There's no denying it, Liverpool are the best team in world football right now.

The Reds are the current Champions League holders and are eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table.

Not even Paris Saint-Germain over in Ligue 1 boast such an advantage and it's testament to the incredible job that Jurgen Klopp has done on Merseyside.

The club's evolution from exciting nearly men into serial winners has been quite incredible and a lot of that is down to Liverpool's defence.

While clean sheets have not been easy to come by this season - just one in their last 14 games - Liverpool's backline is still the envy of European football.

Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson add more to the attack than most out-and-out wingers, while Virgil van Dijk can pretty much marshall the back-line on his own.

The trio's brilliance is lauded worldwide and they're now the three most valuable defenders in world football.

As per Transfermarkt, they are now worth a combined total of £251m. Below, you will find the 17 defenders currently worth over £50m.

THE 15 MOST VALUABLE DEFENDERS

1. Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) - £99m

2. Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) - £90m

3. Andrew Robertson (Liverpool) - £72m

4. Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus) - £67.5m

5. Aymeric Laporte (Man City) - £67.5m

6. Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli) - £67.5m

7. Lucas Hernandez (Bayern Munich) - £63m

8. Jose Gimenez (Atletico Madrid) - £63m

9. Harry Maguire (Man Utd) - £63m

10. Raphael Varane (Real Madrid) - £63m

11. Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich) - £63m

12. Marquinhos (PSG) - £58.5m

13. Davinson Sanchez (Spurs) - £54m

14. Milan Skriniar (Inter Milan) - £54m

15. John Stones (Spurs) - £54m

16. Clement Lenglet (Barcelona) - £54m

17. Niklas Sule (Bayern Munich) - £54m

Where is Shkodran Mustafi, eh?!

In all seriousness, though a few of the names that are worth over £50m will raise a few eyebrows, in particular Sanchez and Stones.

While both are still relatively young, both defenders have really struggled in the Premier League for the past 12 months.

Leicester trio Caglar Soyuncu, Ricardo Pereira and Ben Chilwell will surely usurp them in the rankings before long.